Family hires civil rights attorneys after officer fatally shoots 16-year-old in Stockbridge

The family of Tyrie Howse, a 16-year-old who was shot and killed by a Henry County police officer in Stockbridge, has hired civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Gerald Griggs. The attorneys issued a statement Thursday citing witnesses who said Howse was unarmed when the officer shot him in the back as he ran away. That account differs from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's preliminary findings, which say Howse was carrying a gun and did not drop it when the officer told him to. "This was a good kid with a bright future," Daniels said. Howse was an honor roll junior at Woodland High School who planned to become a pediatric nurse, according to the statement. The GBI said the officer approached Howse and another teenager in a Krispy Kreme parking lot on Nov. 3. According to the agency, the other teen handed Howse a gun, and Howse ran. The officer chased him and fired. Howse died at the scene, and the GBI said a gun was recovered there. The officer is on administrative leave while the GBI investigates. Henry County police have said the GBI is handling the body camera footage and other evidence, and that any decision to release it must be made in coordination with investigators and legal authorities. The GBI will turn over its findings to the Henry County District Attorney's Office for review. Daniels is also representing the family of 18-year-old Zadarious Dorsey , a Black teen fatally shot by a Newnan police officer on Oct. 3. Daniels and civil rights attorney Ben Crump have called for criminal charges against the officer, and Dorsey's family has notified the city it intends to sue for $75 million. In: Police Shooting Georgia Ben Crump Featured Local Savings